Marigold, Williard Caroll...Did somebody say- HOLLYWOOD?!!

I first heard of Marigold- the film starring our very own Sallu in some tabloid and was instinctively apprehensive. For it irks me every time our success or failure is measured by the yardstick of Hollywood. All the same, I was non-reactive and moved on to other news items on that day.

The various Hollywood names- Williard Caroll, Ali Larter- linked to the film did not ring any bell in my averagely informed Hollywood mind. That was the first indication for me to not look forward to this film.

The second dampener came in the form of the delay that the film had to undergo. For again my ‘average’Cinema Aware mind hinted to me the basic difference between Hollywood and the Hindi Film Industry is the Discipline and Planning. Two reasons why they are prompt, On time and hence Effective. On that count too…Marigold Failed!

Then came the vital blow- the promos! I remember my first encounter with B-grade Hollywood films through the trade magazines- that have semi nude Bhojpuri Film heroines on the front cover- compared to them too our hindi film Superstars Hollywood debut looked stale, abrupt and scratchy.

I saw the film this week!! We were three of us, sitting in different corners of the 300 seater Fame Cinema. I thought I sensed sympathy when the popcorn guy came with the popcorn, had it been possible, I felt he would have handed me the popcorn and cola free, for my choice of going through the film.

As the film ended and the three of us left having learnt a very big lesson about “Hype and Reality”- there was one query that has nagged me since then- Why did Salman Khan do the film?

If this film was a result of some serious trouble to the director in executing his vision and hence turned out with: super-jump cut scenes, no character establishments, unintentional comedy in emotional scenes and of course all those who have seen the film will agree- the transition from one scene to another!!!

I wish to ask Ms Anouradha (the editor)- “Mam…. what happened?”
There were animated marigolds going round and round the 70 mm screen, once a knotted dhupatta going from bottom of the screen to the top- like a curtain raiser…. Cartoon Network would have been embarrassed with such patchwork.

Coming back to my query...and forgive me if I’m wrong but allow me to voice it all the same- Are we still in awe of our western colleagues which makes us assume they are good at their work because of the aura that their physical appearance or diction brings to their offers or approaches? Had a similar idea coming from a dusky skin and bambaiya or south India accent garnered same attention from the actors?

I hate to criticize but I’m unable to restrain my agony towards this bias that we instinctively happen to nurture somewhere within us. If KANK was thrashed- and I’m no loyalist of the KANK team- by the media then Marigold’s makers must be ripped for having given us a low end, rejected and embarrassing version of the cinema (HOLLYWOOD) from which we expect a certain quality.

You cannot just come down to our land, take in one of our best film stars and give us a bad film.

But hey!…that’s just what happened!

Freedom- not a perk but a responsibility

Our country completed 60 years of independence today. A fact that would have very simply past by me had I not got exposed to certain behind the scenes info about the sequences and events that led up to this day and the time after 15th august 1947.

It happened so that I have been reading Nehru’s biography by Frank Moraes these days and hence have been sub consciously in touch with the pre independence atmosphere and mood. Today I spent the entire day watching one debate program after another and could not help but feel supreme pride and privilege to having belonged to this country.

It started with me realizing in depth the meaning of a sentence so often used and encountered- “Unity in Diversity”- it sounds good and is true too but the magnitude of it all seeped in as I got exposed to different point of views and facts of this great country.

The events like- objecting to the dynastic monarchy by means of non- violence despite they being ruthlessly autocratic, then the partition to end the massacre that was to begin with perpetuated by someone else, then the road blocks to integrating this vast country with its varied ethos and cultures and hence varied mind sets, then the choice of secularism, then the mechanics of human greed for power and riches, the wars, the internal conflicts, the religions, the emergency, the sudden deaths of country heads, the near bankrupt economy to liberalization, to babri masjid, to famines, to riots, to bomb blasts…to petty killings…to large scale illiteracy…the massive population…phew!! But all this while a SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRACY!
While intellectuals over the world awaited us to collapse, we went on and on…and here we are today getting bigger and stronger…however we are not yet there and what is more important is for us not just to get there but stay there- at the top.

Its time to contribute. In every little way, from picking up that waste paper on the road and throwing it in the nearby dustbin or to take a step towards writing to the authorities to make arrangements for more dustbins!! Vote- u must. Understand the Right to Information Act. Keep writing your feedbacks to the media channels and let them know that they are answerable to us and cannot be taking their dynamism into over enthusiasm in the process looking pompous and irresponsible.

Read a little on the history and I’m sure you’ll end up getting into the mood. Many of us could not be part of the times back in 1947; we can make the difference NOW.
We are an intelligent and sensible breed and I’ll end my write up with an excerpt from Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech on the first anniversary of Indian Independence (15th August 1948)-
“All of us talk of India and all of us demand many things from India. What do we give her in return? We can take nothing from her beyond what we give her. India will ultimately give us what we give her of love and service and productive and creative work. India will be what we are: our thoughts and actions will shape her. Born of her beautiful womb, we are children of hers, little bits of India today, and yet we also the parents of the India of tomorrow. If we are big, so will India be, and if we grow little minded and narrow in outlook, so will India be.”